Dreams Do Come True
by LectersLittleStarling
Summary: Pre CSI break-up and Ecklie's promotion. Ashley Walker a teenager with cancer is allowed to visit the CSI lab. Ashley is abducted by a serial killer. Nick, who had formed a special bond with Ashley takes things to the limits to bring her back.
1. who is she?

Dreams Do Come True

1. Who is she?

Catherine Willows was the first to notice the young brown haired girl sitting in the CSI lobby. The girl looked to be in her teens and appeared pale and gaunt. Though dressed professionally with tailored pants, button up blouse and blazer her childlike qualities were still visible. Catherine decided to ask Grissom about the mystery girl.

Willows walked down the hall and observed her shift leader playing with his red-kneed tarantula. She cleared her throat.

Grissom looked up over his glasses as he put the tarantula back into the tank.

"May I help you Catherine?"

"Yeah actually. Do you know who the girl in the lobby is? She's in her teens, brown hair, fancy apparel."

"She's here?" He stood up and walked to Catherine. "In the lobby you said?"

"Yeah. Yeah but who the hell is she?" Catherine asked giving Gil a look of confusion.

"She's our new intern." Grissom said already halfway down the hall.

"What?!" Catherine shouted after him. "She's like twelve!"

"Round up everyone for assignments." Gil said disappearing down the hall.

Catherine obviously perturbed started off down the hall to the break room.


	2. the new intern

2. The new intern

"Ashley." Grissom asked approaching the young girl.

"I'm here." She said standing up and offering her hand. "Dr. Grissom, it's so nice to see you again." "Come this way. I was just about to hand out assignments. I hope you didn't have to wait very long."

"Oh no not at all. I'm early actually." She said shuffling to keep up with Grissom.

Ashley Walker admired the beauty of the lab. The glass windows allowed her to see the hustle and bustle of the number two crime lab in the country.

Grissom pushed open two glass doors and inside sat the five members of the graveyard shift. A brunet woman was sipping coffee and reading the paper. A group of younger men were all talking about the release of the new video game Halo 2. Her eyes then shifted to the blonde woman who she had seen in the hall. The blonde was looking over a manila folder with case notes inside. Grissom mentally grinned watching the young girl observe her surroundings.

Grissom cleared his throat which immediately was returned with ten eyes staring back at him. Their eyes then shifted from Grissom to Ashley and back to Grissom again. Ashley could almost hear them thinking.

"This is Ashley Walker. She is going to be joining our team temporarily. She is strictly an observer but she will be out in the field with us."

"Glad to have you with us Ashley." An attractive man said with a twinge of a southern accent and an endearing smile.

"Ashley this is Catherine, Nick, Sara, Warrick and Greg."

She quickly made mental notes to help her remember their names. She then realized it would be difficult to concentrate on anything with all of these attractive guys around her. How did Catherine and Sara do it?

"You can sit next to Nicky." Grissom said motioning to the empty chair and opening his notebook.

Walker grinned sheepishly and blushed as Nick held out the chair for her.

"Sara and Catherine you have a 419 at Golden Nugget. Warrick you are taking Greg on another 419 in a residence in Northern Henderson. Nicky, Ashley and myself will be working a possible 420 in the Luxor suite. Busy night tonight. Let's get to work."


	3. why she's here

3. Why she's here.

Ashley followed Grissom to his office. Nick was instructed to get the his kit and start the car.

"Wow!" Ashley said as they entered Gil's office. "Your office is amazing."

Grissom didn't let her see the smile come across his face. The last two interns had been disgusted by his visually stimulating office.

"Red-kneed?" She asked crouching to admire the tarantula.

"Yes. You like tarantulas?"

"Yeah I know. Weird right? Most teenage girls would be really grossed out with your office. I think it's interesting." She said tapping Miss Piggy's jar.

"Weird is in the eye of the beholder." He said grabbing his kit. "Let's get going."

They met Nick in the parking lot with the Tahoe. Grissom said he would sit in the back so Nick and Ashley could get to know each other.

"Whoo wee. No offense but how on earth did you get to the lab?"

"I was driven there." She smiled. He rose an eyebrow.

"Ok. Ok. I was able to come to the lab through Make a Wish foundation."

Nick tried to hide his surprise. He wasn't expecting that to be the reason for her visit. The poor kid was dying.

"I know shocking. I get that a lot though. I'm OK with it. So Make-A-Wish said it would be a good idea to make the wish now."

"Wow. I mean. How did it start?"

"When I was ten I had really bad headaches and they just wouldn't stop. The orphanage took me to the hospital and they did an X-ray. Brain tumors. Inoperable. I refused to acknowledge it for so many years. Then I started to get more sick and I finally accepted it."

"You are a really brave gal you know that."

"I can't believe I'm actually here." She said smiling.

"You actually wanted to be here? I mean don't most kids want to meet their hero's or something?"

"You guys are my hero's you just didn't know it. What you do every single day. That is brave. I didn't have a choice to be brave I had to deal with it. But you guys chose this line of work."

Nick and Grissom both smiled at her response they had never thought about it that way.


	4. her first scene

4. Her first scene.

They pulled up to the scene a few minutes later. They walked into the hotel room and rode the elevator to the top floor. When the silver doors opened the three immediately began to observe the scene. A male's body lay on the bed arms spread to the side. No blood.

A short stocky man approached the group.

"Hey Gil, Nicky." Brass raised an eyebrow at the new girl.

"Jim this is Ashley. She's going to be with us for awhile. She's from the Make-A-Wish foundation. Ashley this is Captain Jim Brass."

"Nice to meet you Captain Brass." She said not extending her hand after observing gloved hands.

"Same here."

Ashley quietly followed Grissom over to the body where a young coroner was looking over the body.

"Hello Grissom. Captain Brass. Nick." He said standing up.

"Hello David. This is Ashley."

"Nice to meet you." He said smiling. "I'm going to have to take him back for an autopsy. No apparent COD. On the other hand the other victim's COD is much more evident."

They followed David to the bathroom. A woman lay bloody with a knife in her stomach. Blood covered the walls. Splashes of red and arterial spray indicated this woman had not died peacefully.

Ashley moved to the front of the group she observed the scene carefully. Nick placed a hand on her shoulder and asked her if she was OK.

She took an uneasy breath and said she was fine.

"Nick you process the bedroom. Ashley you can watch him and talk to David and Brass. I'll be in here."

She followed them back into the suite's bedroom and her eyes swept over what she saw. Something seemed out of place but she couldn't put her finger on it. Although she had just seen a horrific sight and might be a little off at the moment.

"Ashley."

She spun around to see Captain Brass standing behind her.

"Would you like to go to the next suite with me and question the guest?"

"Sure." She smiled and walked out of the room.


	5. the hidden clue

5. The Hidden Clue.

Brass pounded loudly on the door as Ashley stood back a bit under his instruction.

"Ms. Candfield Las Vegas Police."

"May I help you?" A woman about forty opened the door her hair still in curlers.

"Yes Ms. Candfield. We'd like to ask you some questions about what happened down the hall. May we come in?"

"Yeah whatever." She stepped aside letting Brass, another officer and Ashley inside.

"Who's the shrimp? Is it like take your brat to work day or something?"

"She's an intern. Did you hear anything across the hall either early this morning or late last night?"

"Heard a couple thumps maybe some raised voices but I couldn't be sure. I just turned up the TV."

"Did you see any suspicious persons walking around? Maybe someone hanging around you didn't recognize?"

"No no. Nothing like that."

Ashley started to walk around the room. She blocked out the voices of the spiteful woman and Brass. She realized that the other room was out of place. Or at least she thought it was. There was an easily visible wall safe on the left side of the bed. In the other one she hadn't seen a safe at all.

"S'cuze me. I have to go take these curlers out I'll be back in a moment."

"Sure."

"Jesus. Woman hears someone getting killed and what does she do? Call the police? No. She turns up the TV. Unbelievable."

"Captain Brass. Are these rooms identical?"

"As far as I know. I'll ask the manager but why?"

"I think someone rearranged the other room. Maybe to hide the safe?"

"What makes you say that? What do you have kiddo?"

"The safe is covered up in the other room. Maybe someone cracked into it and they wanted to hide the burn marks from the lance. Just an observation." She said smiling.

"You are a mini Grissom. If I couldn't take one of them now I have two." He threw his hands up.

Candfield came back a few minutes later. Brass gave her his card and told her to call if she remembered anything else. Brass knew she would never call. It was too much work and too bothersome for her to assist the police.

"Grissom can I talk to you?" Brass said when they returned to the suite.

"What do you need Jim?"

"Mini Grissom may have just broken the case." He smiled throwing his thumb towards Walker.

They moved aside the table that had been placed next to the bed. Low and behold there was a safe with lance marks burnt into the safe.

"All be damned. The mini Grissom is a star on her first day." Brass said crossing his arms.


	6. now what?

6. Now what?

Ashley in the audio lab with Archie and spun around in her chair. LVPD had been informed that a call had been made to 911 from the hotel room that night. Kao and Walker were now waiting for Grissom or Nick to come.

She was a bit sour that the team had just dropped her like a wet mop after they returned from the scene.

"So....Ashley how are you?"

"I'm doing pretty good. How about you?"She asked just stopping the spinning long enough to make eye contact.

"You like it here so far?"

"Yeah. I wish I could work here for real someday." She said finally stopping.

Archie was afraid to say the wrong thing. He had been informed of Ashley's condition but was not sure what to say. Luckily Nick walked in to save the day.

"Whatcha got Archie my man?" Nick said rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"Let me cue this up for you."

Nick walked behind Walker and placed his hands on her chair. She mentally grinned.

"Video shows an unidentified male heading down the hall to your vics room. I'll page you when I get a better picture."

"Thanks Archie. Come with me Ashley."

Ashley jumped out of her chair and said good bye to Archie. She followed Nick down the hall to the break room. Sara and Catherine were sitting at the table talking.

"Whoa you guys back already?" Nick asked as he grabbed a cup of coffee.

"Yeah. Dead male in the hotel room. Husband and wife were standing there watching us work. The second Sara started dusting for prints the husband nearly chokes on the words confessing. Turns out he came in on the wife cheating on him. He killed the dude."

"Damn. Talk about open and shut. Our case is a little more difficult. Although, Ashley is a star already, kinda like Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs. She picked up on inconsistencies in the room almost immediately, it was amazing."

Walker blushed and stared at her feet.

"Nice job kiddo." Catherine said smiling. "Want to sit with us for awhile, give you a break from all the guys."

"Sure, thanks." She smiled pulling up a chair.

Nick left the room and Ashley watched him walk down the hall, making sure he was gone.

"How do you guys do it?"

"This job? It's great you get to help people— "

"No no not that. Work with all of these hot guys."

Sara nearly spit out her coffee in laughter. Catherine joined in on the laughter too, finally Ashley started to giggle as well.

"Why who do you like?" Sara grinned.

"All of them. Especially Nick. Oh my god with the hot accent and the chivalry. Of course I didn't spend all day with the rest of them...yet." They all burst out laughing.

Catherine wiped a tear from her eye. "Not only did you crack your case wide open, you gave us a good laugh."


	7. the gossip girls

7. Gossip Girls

"So what do CSI's normally talk about when you guys are hanging out here?"

"When it's just Sara and me we talk about the guys and what a mystery our supervisor is."

"From my past experience he's really nice, really smart, really caring."

"Wait, you've met him before today?"

"Well, yeah. He came and visited me in the hospital every Friday for four months before I came here."

Sara and Catherine looked at each other in shock.

"I take it he isn't very open at work."

"Not at all." They said in unison.

"We talked for hours on Friday nights. It's what I looked forward to at the orphanage."

"Orphanage?" The words slipped out of Sara's mouth.

"Yeah. My parents died when I was little. No one wanted to adopt a kid my age. Now I probably won't live to see my freedom either." She looked at her feet.

"I'm sorry kiddo." Catherine put her hand on Walker's back.

"It's ok I've accepted it. This is my dream come true to be here with you guys, Grissom's letting me stay for two weeks. I'm so excited." A smile came to her face.

"We're glad to have you here. I hope you're case will be solved by the time you have to leave. Who are you staying with after shift?"

"Grissom."

They looked at each other again in shock. This was a new side of Grissom they had rarely seen.


	8. what the hell?

8. What the hell?

"Ms. Walker?"

The three turned to see a man from the front desk holding a letter.

"That would be me." She smiled taking the letter from him.

"What is this?" Sara asks looking at the letter.

"I told the home to forward any mail that I might get, but wow, I didn't expect anything this fast you know? Especially this late at night. How weird."

Ashley slit the letter open with a finger and unfolded the letter. Catherine and Sara went back to talking not wanting to read over her shoulder.

"Oh my god." Walker gasped and dropped the letter on the glass table.

"What's wrong Ashley?" Sara looks at Ashley then looks at the letter and shows an equally shocked response. "We need to get this to the print lab."

"Wait wait. What does it say?" Catherine asked setting down her coffee cup.

Ashley started to read it out loud:

_Dear Ashley Walker, _

_You are a very clever little girl. Most girls your age are busy chasing boys and shopping, but not you, you are busy on my trail eh? I know you will only be here on this case for two weeks, but you should stop while you are ahead. I'm much too dangerous, your squad should resign from this case and pretend it never happened, the outcome of you not complying with my wishes will result in serious harm to you or your squad members. Trust me Ashley you will be better off if you convince your superiors to forget about this case. I know how the politics of a crime lab work, make this case disappear. _

_Your friend_

_P.s. I hope that your headaches won't bother you so much in the future._

"It's okay Ashley. We're going to call Brass, we'll get Grissom in here, and then we'll take this to the lab. Don't worry everything will be OK." Catherine said gently patting her back.

Ashley nodded her head, almost in tears. She took a deep breath and fought back the tears and followed Catherine to Grissom's office.

Catherine explained the situation to Grissom who then explained it to Brass who walked in shortly after.

"Catherine, take the note to the labs. Ashley take a seat.." Grissom turned to Ashley speaking as gently to her as he could manage.

They sat in an awkward silence until Ashley spoke up, still fidgeting, hands in her lap.

"Am I still going to stay with you or will I be sent back to the group home?" She looked up sadly at the two.

"I doubt it, I'll need be here in case the labs turn something up . If someone offers you'll be able to go home with one of them." Grissom spoke.

"Call me Jim or Brass, no need for formalities among friends." He smiled.

" What is going to happen about the letter?" She spoke.

"Well, we have your fingerprints from when you first wanted to join here. Then we'll exclude your prints from any prints we find, if we find any we'll run them through the database. Other than that we will be keeping tabs on the evidence collected at the hotel."

"Can I go observe at the print lab?"

Brass spoke up and smiled kindly as he nodded. "Sure thing kiddo."

Brass, Grissom and Walker made their way to the print lab where Warrick was using Ninhydrin on the letter. Walker opened the door and watched him work. The rest of the team was also crowded in the room.

"I've got a couple prints. No telling if they are yours or the senders."

"I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to mess up the evidence. I wish I'd have known. I'm sorry." Ashley looked at the group.

"Hey hey hey... Ashley. It isn't your fault, there is no way you could have known. It's not your fault." Nick spoke up cutting off Grissom.

"Don't worry about it kiddo. If anything, it was good that you got this letter, gives us a chance to get to know this guy." Brass commented.

Walker nodded and forced a small smile despite her stomach twisted in knots of worry inside.

"Come on. You can stay with me tonight if you want. You've had a rough day and you need a good night sleep." Nick smiled recieving looks from the rest of the group.

"Thank you Nick." She smiled at him sighing softly.

"Can I talk to you for a minute Nicky." Grissom stated rather than asked. "Ashley you can go grab your things and meet Nick back here."

Walker smiled at the bunch and left the room feeling a bit left out of the team. Being sent out of the room while someone has a conversation about her was certainly nothing new.

"Are you sure you want to take her home Nick? I would have rather it been Catherine or Sara, there might be some controversy if you take her home." Grissom looked sternly at him as they walked out to the hall.

"I'm positive. Y'all are busy doing this and certainly can cover it. Catherine already has her girl at home and Sara isn't going to want to leave for hours. Ashley needs to go home now. Just look at her she's exhausted probably starving to death she doesn't need to be pulling an all nighter. It'd be the same if you took her home too." Nick shot back with a sigh.

"No it wouldn't. You're a young guy Nick. People could take that the wrong way." Grissom sighed not wanting to fight a battle he was going to lose. "Tonight and tonight only. From now on it's Catherine, Sara or myself keeping her for the night."

"Thanks Grissom." Nick smiled and headed off down the hall to find Ashley.

Ashley walked into the locker rooms where she grabbed her belongings and headed out towards the labs yet again where she was met by Nick. The pair walked out to the car with only a few words spoken between them about the dinner they'd forgotten about hours before.They sat in an odd silence as Nick started up the car and headed out of the parking lot.


End file.
